Water meter housings have traditionally been made of brass or bronze alloys, either cast or wrought. Such housings have a cylindrical body with a threaded inlet port coupling and a threaded outlet port coupling for connecting the housing in a water supply line. A bottom cover may close an access opening to the body cavity, and is often made of the same metal as the main housing part. The metering element is disposed in the housing in the flow stream to provide metering movements in response to flow. These movements drive a magnet. A meter register is mounted on top of the housing and pickup the revolutions of the magnet and includes a numerical display to indicate the volumetric usage by a utility customer.
The castings for the water meter housings are made in a foundry and are a relatively expensive component of the overall meter assembly. There is a constant demand in the marketplace for a reduction in the costs of metering units, which are also needed in high volumes.
In addition, materials used for such castings have included lead.
It would therefore be desirable in many applications to find an alternative to the traditional cast meter housing to reduce the cost of manufacture. Another goal is to provide an alternative material that is substantially lead-free.
Another way of reducing manufacturing cost would be to reduce the number of parts and make the parts easier to manufacture.
Another way would be to design the components for easier assembly.
The present invention was made in response to these needs.